Just a reminder, we'll be having our online chat with Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO) at 2:15PM Eastern today

UPDATE: NYT did an editorial too.

UPDATE: The Washington Post did an editorial on the topic of our chat today, food safety - it's excellent background:

Nestled within the Food Safety Act of 2007 under consideration in the House is a provision sponsored by Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) that would give the Agriculture Department and the FDA the power to issue a mandatory recall of contaminated food. This is more than reasonable, since the federal government can and did recall lead-tainted toys imported from China last year. Besides, the hammer of potential government action would be a powerful incentive for growers and packers to conform to safety standards.

What's missing from the act is another provision pushed by Ms. DeGette that would require that food producers track their products from "farm to fork." Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who is shepherding the act through the House, should include the tracking provision as part of the package -- and then get the legislation passed. This and the power to recall are two tools that would make it easier to protect the nation's food supply and find the source of tainted meat and vegetables the moment an outbreak occurs -- not months and many victims later.

Okay, first, the FDA can't recall bad food? That's nuts. And second, we can't track where the tomatoes came from? Geez.

In the meantime, she's holding a hearing in a few minutes about Food Safety. That will also be the topic of our chat, though you can certainly ask her about whatever you like. The committee hearing will be Webcast, probably starting around 10:10AM - you can watch it here.

As for our chat with the congresswoman, that will start around 2:15pm Eastern time, this afternoon, and we'll hold it in our comments sections. Chris and I will be interviewing the congresswoman, but you are very much welcome, and encouraged to ask your own questions, by simply typing your question in a comment at that time. If you're interested in asking Congresswoman DeGette a question, make sure you create a free Disqus account here (it's how you get permission to post a comment), and then just click on the comments-link of the post I publish right before the Congresswoman arrives. You can just read the interview live, or join in, it's your choice.

In the meantime, here is a Wall Street Journal article with more background on the food safety issue, and here is some additional background as well.

The salmonella outbreak in tomatoes is the latest in a series of crises that highlight the cracks in our nation’s food safety system. Despite the fact that the first cases of this outbreak were reported in April, the government has failed to address the issue resulting in more than 170 people falling ill. Despite the clear threat to public health the government lacks the power to mandate a recall, and because no system exists to track food as it moves through the country, authorities have yet to determine the origin of the outbreak. Had Congresswoman DeGette’s mandatory recall and traceability proposals been in place in April, not only would the government have the power to force a recall, it would be able to trace the contamination back to its source.

Congresswoman Diana DeGette, Vice Chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce has been a leader in Congress in the effort to reform our food safety system. This morning, the subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing on America’s food safety system, and this afternoon at 2:15 PM she will join us for a discussion about how we can set up a system that keeps our food safe.

And here's some background on Congresswoman DeGette, in video format: